Manufacture of lubricating-oils.



A. DE HEMPTINNE. MANUFACTURE OF LUBRIGATING OILS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 11. 1909.

970,473. Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

\NvE -roR, \TN E33 ALEXAN ER DE HENIPTINNE b My 7 Attoma yield and of the The apparatus ALEXANDRE DE HEMPTINNE, OF GHENT, BELGIUM.

MANUFACTURE OF LUBRICATING-OILS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDRE DE HEMP- TINNE, professor of university, a subject of the King of Belgium, residing at Ghent,

No. 51 rue Basse des Champs, Belgium, have invented a new and useful Manufacture of Lubricating-Oils; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

When the silent electric discharge acts on olein or similar products in an atmosphere of hydrogen, stearin is produced. This process has been patented in the United States Patent No. 797,112 of 15th August 1905. A second United StatesPatent, No. 852,662 of 7th May 1907, relates to a process for deodorizing fish oils, based on the same principle. In this latter process there is also a formation of stearin which raises the solidif ing temperature of the oil.

I have ound that the electric discharge acting directly on a liquid in a partial vacuum or in any gaseous atmosphere, has the efiect of polymerizing the molecules. There follows a considerable increase in the viscosity, such that by mixing with mineral oils the animal or vegetable oils thus treated lubricating oils are obtained.

Inorder that the process may be advan-x point of view both oftageous from the quality of the products, it

in a special manner. for carrying out the proc- 'ess is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure .1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2, a transverse section.

In a cylinder A are arranged on a shaft a series of parallel plates, alternately of metal B and of insulating material C. Counting from the left, the first, third and fifth B plates are connected to one pole of a source of current by a wire F, and the second, fourth and sixth B plates are connected to the second pole of the source of current by a wire G. The cylinder is rotated by means of avpulley D, and owing to a number of conduits g, fixed to the interior of the wall, the oil is continually sprinkled over the upper part of the plates.

To make the matter clear, I deem it useful to give' some explanations of a scientific character.

should be applied It is important to distinguish between viscosity due to the formation of stearin and that due to the formation of associated or polymerized molecules. In

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 11, 1909. Serial No. 495,262.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

the first case the increase of molecular weight is very small, consisting merely in the addition of a molecular weight of hydrogen. In the second case, as I have ascertained by the boiling point and freezing.

point methods, there is a formation of complex molecules of high molecular weight.

This reaction occurring between the molecules is independent phere.

Oils which contain much stearin are inappropriate for lubrication because this substance is a bad lubricant; moreover, it presents the great inconvenience that it makes the oils insufficiently fluid at ordinary temperatures and too fluid at raised-temperatures. The polymerized oils have not these defects; the are viscous but are not solidified by cold furthermore, when the temperature is raised they become gradually more fluid, but always possess a satisfactory consistence which is the quality required for lubricating oils.

In contradistinction to the object of the aforesaid patents relative to the synthesis of stearic acid and to the deodorizing of fish oils, the present process seeks to avoid or diminish the formation of stearin and to favor the formation of molecules of a high degree of polymerization. For this purpose, the silent electric discharge is caused to act not on the pure oil, but on a mixture of vegetable, animal or mineral oils. In. practice, a mixture comprisin mineral oil is preferred. The proportion 0 such oil in the mixture varies according to the quality of the oils under treatment and the degree of viscosity desired. The particular effect ob tained is due to the interaction of the liduid molecules under the influence of the si ent electric discharge so that one may operate in any gaseous atmosphere or in a partial Vacuum. The change may, for instance, be effected in. the apparatus described and shown in U. S. Patent 852,662, of May 7, 1907; it is sufficient to leave the mixture in the apparatus long enough to reach the desired degree of viscosity.

Having thus described my invention and the best means I know of carrying the same into practical effect, I claim 1. A process for transforming oils into a viscous product, which process consists in subjectin the oil to the action of the silent electric ischarge, in any rarefied gaseous atmosphere. A

of the gaseous atmos-- 2. A process for transforming oils into a name to this specification in the presence of s viscous product, which process consists 1n two subscribing Witnesses.

subjecting a mixture of animal vegetable v and mineral oils to the action of? the silent ALEXANDRE DE HEMPTINNE' .5 electric discharge, in any rarefied gaseous Witnesses atmosphere. N. COLLINET, I

In testimony whereof, I have signed my JAMES M. Gr. FAX. 

